


Taking Chances

by buckbeakbabie



Series: Taking Chances [1]
Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-06
Updated: 2011-10-06
Packaged: 2017-10-24 08:53:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckbeakbabie/pseuds/buckbeakbabie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU pre-series.<br/><i>"Barney, do you see that girl over there?"</i></p><p><i>Barney's eyebrow quirks slightly, because he'd recognise her anywhere. </i></p><p><i>"Oh, yeah, you just know she likes it dirty," he says, smirking. He tilts his head, looking over at her.</i></p><p><i>Yeah, it's definitely Robin. And Barney knows for <span class="u">sure</span> she likes it dirty.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Chances

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is kinda my baby. Literally, it's been 9+ months since I started it. I'd never even tried writing these two when I first got the idea for a Robin-deflowers-Barney fic. I tried writing 'simpler' stories to get their voices down, but aside from a couple of drabbles, all my brain wanted to work on was this almost epic AU. Robin especially was hard because we have so little to go on about what her life was like back then. So, it either works, or it's failed horribly. I'm not sure which. Please, _please_ let me know. ~~(So I know whether to keep working on the sequel...)~~  
>  Many thanks to my awesome beta lurkrealclose. And hugs to ginny4harry and pipsytip for holding my hand.

_2005_

"Barney, do you see that girl over there?"

Barney glances up, following Ted's gaze to whatever girl he's spotted, sensing a big romantic statement coming up.

God, Ted is such a chick.

His eyebrow quirks slightly, because he'd recognise her anywhere.

"Oh, yeah, you just know she likes it dirty," he says, smirking. He tilts his head, looking over at her.

Yeah, it's definitely Robin. And Barney knows for _sure_ she likes it dirty.

***

 _July, 1998_

Robin Scherbatsky thinks she might just have fallen in love

This city is amazing. Okay, it's not perfect - the people can be rude and the subway is filthy, but she doesn't care about any of that.

Because she's in love. With the buildings and the atmosphere; with the noise and (most of) the smells. With Central Park and the shops and even the overpriced coffee. With how anonymous you can be in a place like this.

She likes being anonymous best of all. The second she walks out of the airport, she completely blends in. She's been here almost two weeks and not _once_ has she had someone give her that look. That 'I know you from somewhere' look. Which is even worse when it's followed by the spark of recognition and the 'Oh my God, it's that chick from that song about the mall!' look. A look she still gets way too often in Canada, even though 'Let's Go To The Mall' was like, two whole years ago and she tries to look as different as she possibly can from Robin Sparkles. The brown hair throws most people off, but not everyone.

She's more than ready to leave that part of her life behind. She's tried really hard this past year. This trip is part of that. Her mother thought she was crazy, going off all by herself to a big city but Robin can take care of herself. And though she has had lonely moments, the space has been great. She's literally had distance from her crazy life, and it feels good.

A part of her kind of wants to stay here, she loves it so much. But she only has a day and a half left in the city. College starts in a little over a month and she is looking forward to starting a whole new life. She's going to study journalism and make a name for herself as Robin Scherbatsky, someone who people take seriously.

But she will be sad to leave New York. She'll come back, she knows she will, but she's feeling restless. She has one more night left in the city and Robin wants to make it count. She wants to do something to take advantage of her amazing newfound anonymity.

She kind of wants to sleep with someone. A total stranger that she'll never see again. The thought gives her a thrill; she's never done something like that before. She's slept with guys, sure. Straight ones, even. But she'd known them from school or through friends or something. She loves the idea of picking someone up she's never met before who has absolutely no idea who she is and then never seeing them again, ever.

She looks around the bar - yes, okay, she's in a bar already, but she's on vacation and she just ate lunch. She isn't the only one in the bar, though none of the guys are tempting her. She orders another beer and starts formulating a plan. She'll kill some time, get all dressed up later, go to a club (her fake ID is good, and she looks older than she is) and just-

"Uh, can I have a beer, please?" a guy's voice asks.

She glances to the side, looking away almost immediately. The long blonde hair is a bit too much. She goes back to planning her night.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees something red, and she glances over again. He has flowers.

"Thanks," the guys says, a slight sigh in his voice as he takes the beer from the bartender.

Robin tilts her head, watching how his fingers curl around the neck of the bottle. He has nice hands.

Curious, she moves her eyes to his face again. He's actually kind of ... hot underneath the hair. Even with the goatee. He takes a long drink of beer, draining almost half the bottle in one go, and she realises she's staring at his mouth.

Maybe she shouldn't dismiss him so quickly after all.

He lowers the bottle, wincing as he swallows. He catches Robin looking at him, and his eyes widen slightly, he looks a little scared.

"Sorry," she says. "You afraid that beer's gonna go somewhere?"

He gives her a nervous smile that's actually kinda cute. "Uh, yeah," he says, weakly. He catches the bartender's eye. "Can I get another, please?"

She quirks an eyebrow. "I think you're trying to get drunk," she says.

He glances at her, but he doesn't meet her eyes and he looks at the counter straight away. "Maybe," he says, in a small voice.

She glances at the flowers. "Girl trouble?" she guesses.

Something flickers across his face, hurt and pain and she glances down to see his grip on the bottle is so tight his knuckles have gone white.

Ah.

She's not sure if that's good or bad. It could be that he's trying to win his girlfriend back, and that's why he has the flowers. Or, he could have already tried and failed and then he might be up for some rebound sex. She can't tell.

There's only one way to find out.

"I'm Robin," she says, turning on her stool to face him a little.

He looks a little unsure, but holds out his hand to her. "Uh, hi. I'm Barney."

***

 _2005_

"Go say hi," he says, nudging Ted's arm. It should probably be weird, seeing Ted go this crazy over Robin, but Barney feels oddly okay with it. Robin is pretty awesome, and though he's not sure how much of a chance Ted has, he should at least go for it.

But Ted's freaking out; he's got this wild look in his eyes. Barney sighs. "I can't just go say hi!" Ted is saying, "I need a plan... I'm gonna wait ‘til she goes to the bathroom-" Ted keeps talking, but Barney’s tuned him out.

Barney nods and makes an encouraging sound as he notices Robin walk towards them. He puts down his drink and steps away from the bar, pretending to listen to whatever lame plan Ted's rambling about as he turns to Robin, and taps her on the shoulder.

"Hi, have you met Ted?" he says quickly, stepping away before she can say anything to him. That's how the game works, though never before has he wanted to stay just a second longer, to see how a woman reacts to him.

He makes his way across the bar, giving them space. He leans against the jukebox and watches them.

He smiles. Robin. Back in New York. She wasn't someone he'd ever expected to see again. But she's made it out of Canada. That's great. She's way too awesome for a country as lame as Canada. She looks amazing, even better than he remembered. She's matured, but in a good way, not in a 'she looks old' way.

Ted does some weird thing with his arms and Barney's brow furrows. What the hell is he doing? Oh, Ted...

Whatever it is, she giggles, and he's not sure if that's a good or bad thing. She waves at a table of girls, and he looks over. Ooh, Robin has hot friends. _Nice._ The blonde looks angry, though.

He glances back over at Ted and Robin. He wonders again if she knows who he is. He didn't give her a lot of time to react to him, and he has changed a _lot_ since then. He idly considers going up to her later, after Ted strikes out. (Because, let's face it, Ted’s a nice guy, but he’s not that awesome.) Asking her if she wants a trip down memory lane. If Robin went for the old him, she might really like the newer, more awesome-

He freezes. Robin knows things about him. Things Ted and the others don't know about.

Oh dear God, what has he done?

***

 _1998_

She slides her hand into his, glancing down at the way his fingers close gently around hers. Yeah, he has really great hands.

She smiles at him as he turns back to his beer.

"So, Barney," she says, picking up the flowers. "What's her name?"

He glances down at the bar again. "Uh, it's - it's complicated." He takes another drink, his first bottle is almost gone.

"Complicated... That's a funny name," she says. It's a silly joke but she smiles warmly at him and he actually laughs a little. Though his smile doesn't reach his eyes.

"Uh, no. Shannon. Her name's Shannon. But they're not for her," he adds, nodding at the flowers.

"Shannon, huh?" she asks, taking a sip of her beer. "I prefer Complicated."

"Oh, she is that too," he sighs. "Well, actually, no. She just wants someone to _'buy her lots of cool stuff.'_ That's not that complicated at all, really." The bitterness in his voice seems incongruous with the long hair and the worn t-shirt.

She raises an eyebrow. "She left you for some rich guy?"

"Some rich jerk," he corrects.

She shakes her head. "Okay, I can think of an even better name for her. Starts with 'B.'"

He grins, and it seems more genuine this time. He looks back at his beer again. He's all fidgety and still not entirely comfortable talking to her, she can tell. And she's curious - the flowers aren't for his ex, and he definitely doesn't want her back, but he's still gulping down his beer without hesitation.

She finishes her beer, stealing glances at him.

She nods at the bartender. "Two."

He looks at her. "Oh, no, you don't have to-"

She meets his eyes. "Who says it's for you?" she asks.

"Oh. Sorry, I-" he stammers.

She grins, he's actually a little bit adorable. "No, it is," she says, sliding one towards him when the bartender places the bottles in front of her.

"Uh, really, you don't-" he says.

"Nope, I'm buying you a beer. I still don't know why you're trying to get drunk so early in the day, but I feel like I should help you out. Besides, it'll use up some of my American dollars." His brow furrows at that. "I'm Canadian," she explains.

"Really?" he asks, and there's a hint of something like scorn in his voice.

"Yeah. What about it?" she asks.

"Don't you mean 'what aboot it'?" he asks, and she'd probably be offended if she wasn't so happy to see him smile properly.

"Funny," she says, her tone flat.

"Sorry," he says, but his eyes are sparkling. "And, uh, thanks for the beer. So how long you been here?"

"You're welcome. And two weeks." She smiles fondly. "Kinda don't want to go back."

He smiles, and again, it seems real. He's relaxing a little. "You had a good time?"

She nods eagerly. "Literally, the best vacation I've ever had."

They get talking, small talk kind of thing. He tells her he grew up on Staten Island and she tells him she's here by herself. He raises an eyebrow, like everyone else does when she says that.

"No, no, it's been great," she says. "I like being by myself, just doing what I want to do. The space and the freedom - it was just what I needed."

He nods slowly. "That sounds great," he says.

The more she talks to him, the more she really wants to sleep with him. He is actually really hot. And even the hair isn't so bad. It looks like it's soft and fine, it'd probably feel really good sliding through her fingers.

She shakes herself. He doesn't seem to have noticed her distraction, he's staring at his beer bottle again, lost in thought.

"You know what you need?"

He looks up at her. "What?"

"Scotch," she says.

"Scotch?" he repeats.

She nods. "If you're gonna drown your sorrows, do it in style."

He gives a small smile. "I'm not drowning my sorrows," he says. "I mean - yeah, it hurts, still, but Shannon isn't the reason I'm here. I mean, not exactly."

She tilts her head. "Really?"

She signals the bartender. "Scotch. Two, please. You ever had scotch, Barney?" she wonders.

"Uh, once, I think," he says. "Have you?"

"A lot more than once," she replies, grinning.

"But you're a girl and you're all young and pretty, shouldn't you be drinking wine coolers or something fruity?" His lips quirk a little.

She smiles slowly. He thinks she's pretty. "My dad used to let me drink scotch with him when I was younger. I developed a taste."

His eyebrow quirks at that, but he doesn't say anything. He's still all nervous and twitchy and she finds the way his body moves fascinating.

"So why are you getting drunk so early in the day?" she asks. "You never did answer that question."

"Uh, I'm going to do... something. Later. Maybe."

“That's not an answer. What are you gonna do?"

She thinks maybe he's blushing a little. The bartender slides the scotch across to him he picks up the glass and runs his fingers along the ridges. He really has _great_ fingers. He swirls the glass, and she likes the way his wrist moves, too.

She tears her eyes away from his hands. He's still looking down, examining the liquid in the glass. She picks up her scotch, taking a long sip and licking her lips. "You know, I think you have to drink it for it to give you liquid courage," she says.

He swallows, eyes flickering over to hers briefly.

"I'm going to have sex," he blurts out.

She's got her glass to her lips and she splutters a little when he says it. The way he says it seems very ... significant.

"Ah," she says, lowering her voice. She looks at him again, sizing him up. He's older than her for sure, but he's apparently still a virgin. She pauses for a second, not expecting that. But ... this could work. He wants to have sex. He's planning on it.

"I think I am," he adds. "It's just - we were gonna wait. Til we got married. But she left me for _Greg_ ," he growls, and the way his eyes flash with anger when he says that makes Robin shift in her seat slightly. There _is_ an aggressive side underneath the hippie hair and clothes.

That's hot.

"And so... James says I should just get it over with, you know?" he was saying. "And that I should go to... The Man Maker."

Robin's brow furrows. "The Man Maker?"

"A friend of our mom's she... well, this is her thing," he says, and he's definitely blushing now. "But I mean... I guess I just thought... Never mind." He sighs, lifts the glass to his lips and takes a long gulp of scotch. He winces, bringing the glass down to the bar forcefully.

"Okay, I'm just going to throw this out there, but what's the hurry?"

He shrugs. "James says I need to get back in the game. Get confidence. So I can talk to other girls."

"Barney?"

"Mm?"

"You've been talking to a girl for the last thirty minutes."

He turns to look at her, tilting his head slightly. "Yeah," he says, slowly. "But you came over to me, and I'm kinda drunk now."

Robin grins. "Well, you're not doing so bad."

"I'm not trying to sleep with you, though."

Robin raises an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Barney swallows, looking over at her. She leans on the bar as she feels his gaze flicker over her. "Uh," he says, clearing his throat and focusing on his scotch again, taking a long sip.

"Barney," Robin says, reaching out to touch his knee. She feels him tense. "You could, you know."

"What?"

"Sleep with me."

His eyes widen. "Uh, what?" His voice is high and squeaky.

"Sleep with me," she repeats, and there's a challenging note in her voice.

He shakes his head, gives a little chuckle. "Uh, I don't need a pity - whatever."

"Please," she scoffs. "You're hot. I mean, I don't usually go for guys with longer hair than mine, but you are."

He gives a hollow, slightly nervous laugh. "Robin-"

"Come on," she says. "What's the worst that can happen? I'm leaving the country tomorrow. If it doesn't work out or you don't feel like it, you can leave and we never have to see each other again. And if it does work out - well, we still won't ever see each other again, but you'll have had some great sex."

He's still really nervous but his lips twitch slightly. "Great?"

She nods, smirking. "Yeah," she says. "I promise you. I can be a Man Maker." And she really wants to be. She likes the idea of being his first, of getting underneath that shy, long-haired exterior because she knows there's something there, something harder and ... feral. She slides her hand along his leg.

She hears him suck in a breath, notices how he shifts on his bar stool. He's looking at her now, and he quirks an eyebrow. "You think so?"

She leans forward. "I'll give it a shot," she says, her voice low. She grabs his t-shirt, hand fisting in the material, and pulls him to her. She presses her lips to his, hard and fierce.

For a couple of seconds he's frozen as her lips press against his. She lets her tongue slide out to run along his lower lip and she can feel the dam break as he kisses her back, hands reaching out to pull her even closer to him.

***

 _2005_

Barney tries not to panic. He's way too awesome to panic. And actually, yeah, that's a good point. He's so awesome now Robin probably hasn't connected him with the lame haired hippy she met seven years ago. Maybe she won't recognise him in the awesome suit.

She'd only glanced at him for a split second, and he hadn't detected any hint of recognition.

He sees her throw a drink over Ted and he grins. Of course Ted has struck out. From what he remembers of Robin, Ted's not her type.

Her type is a lot more awesome than that, what up!

He makes his way across the bar, relieved.

"De- wait for it-" he says, walking up behind Ted, "-nied! Denied!" He points at him, chuckling. Like Ted would've stood a chance with _Robin_.

But Ted holds up a card. "We're going out tomorrow night."

Barney's stunned. Really? He thinks he might start to panic again, but he quickly pouts, instead. "I thought we were playing Laser Tag tomorrow night!"

"Yeah, I was never gonna go play Laser Tag," Ted admits as he wipes his face with a napkin. He steps away, walking to the bathroom, and Barney leans against the bar.

This is going to be okay. Robin probably doesn't recognise him. And even if she does connect him to the guy she met seven years ago, it's not likely to come up over dinner on their first date. _"Oh, by the way, your friend Barney nailed me a long time ago. He rocked my world, and actually kinda ruined me for other men."_

He gives a short laugh.

Yeah, it's going to be fine.

He looks around the bar, scouting for someone to keep his mind off this whole Robin and Ted thing.

The blonde at the other end of the bar, she'll do. He straightens his tie, picks up his scotch, and walks up behind her.

He leans in close. "Hundred dollars says when you turn around, I say 'wow'."

***

 _1998_

He shouldn't be doing this. Picking up a girl in a bar? A total stranger? This isn't him.

He shoves the thought out of his head. Maybe it hadn't been him before, but it _should_ be him. This feels good, leaning in to her as his tongue slides against hers. And her hand gripping his thigh feels _more_ than good.

Yeah, he needs this. He needs to forget about Shannon and move on with his life, and he can't do that as the same pathetic guy she'd dumped.

He pulls away, breathing unevenly. He's staring into her eyes, which is making breathing even harder.

"My hotel room is just a couple of blocks away," she says.

Barney nods, picks up his scotch and downs it. He tosses some money on the bar as he slides off the stool.

The air on his face feels good when they step outside, walking down the street in silence. He can feel himself start to get nervous, his stomach clenching a little. He looks sideways at her, and catches her glancing at him. She has a little smirk playing at the edge of her lips and it's - it's _hot_.

Oh, _God_ , he's going to do this. He's really going to do this.

It really is lucky her hotel is close, because he doesn't want to think about this too much. And he already knows that kissing her is a fantastic way to stop thinking.

Which is why as soon as they step into her room, he's the one who grabs her. His hands cup her face and he's kissing her hard and rough and he never kissed Shannon like this.

Maybe that was his mistake. Robin definitely seems to like him kissing her this way, she moans against his lips and presses her whole body against him. Her hands slide down his back, grabbing his ass roughly. That makes him moan, especially when she holds him firmly in place and grinds her hips against his. His moan is sort of strangled, and he's so turned on by now he knows she has to feel it. And he thinks that's what makes her grind harder.

He pulls back from the kiss because he really needs to breathe. When he looks down at her, her eyes are dancing and it makes his stomach lurch. He reaches down, hands gripping her hips as he pulls her in for another kiss. It's even fiercer than the last time, and he's a little nervous about being this aggressive but she's totally eating it up. One of her hands has found its way under his t-shirt and her nails are sliding along his back.

God, she's good at this.

She breaks the kiss this time, and he loves how flushed and tousled she looks.

"Mmm, you're good at this," she says, and her voice is all low and sexy and he can feel it somewhere at the base of his spine.

"Yeah, you too," he pants, and his voice sounds weird too, lower. His head is spinning from the kissing (and probably the alcohol too, but he's blaming the kissing). He thinks that's why he barely pauses before moving one of his hands down to grab her ass. He squeezes, mashing her hips against his again and _God_ he's so hard.

She moans. "Barney." There's an edge to her voice, something raw about it. It gives him a thrill to know _he_ did this to her, has her so worked up she's moaning his name. He wants to hear it again. He presses his hips forward, and she moans again, and even though it’s not his name it's still such a turn on.

He moves his other hand to her ass, squeezing it tightly and pressing his body into hers as he uses his grip to lift her off her feet. Her hips drag against his and his cock jumps, pressing hard against his jeans. She growls at that, legs wrapping around his waist and clinging to him.

Her arms hook around his neck and his fingers are digging into her ass hard now. Her hips grind against his and his jeans are way too tight. He needs more, needs to feel her skin under his hands and maybe sliding against his.

He makes a sound that comes out as a growl, kind of shocking him because he never would have thought he had this in him. But he's stumbling towards the bed now, leaning over and he means to lower her onto the bed but he kind of throws her down. Accidentally.

He's about to apologize, sure he's gone too far, but she's grinning up at him. There's an almost feral look in her eyes and he can't get over how much she likes this.

Or, really, how much _he_ likes it. She sits up, tugging at his jeans. He groans as she pulls them down. Yeah, that's much better. He reaches down, grabs the hem of her t-shirt and tugs it off her. He stares for a couple of seconds at her navy blue bra, how awesomely it frames her breasts - fuck, she is so _hot_.

He's staring at her, but he can't help it. Her hair is all mussed and the way she's looking up at him makes him want to _devour_ her. He has no idea where this hunger has come from, but he kind of likes it.

He toes off his shoes and socks, kicking off his jeans so he can kneel on the bed. His hands grab her hips, pulling her down the bed a little. He leans down as his hands slide up her sides roughly, and he buries his head in her chest, inhaling the scent of her. He growls against her skin, tongue flicking out to lick along the swell of her breasts. She hisses and arches up towards him, and he presses rough open mouthed kisses across her chest.

He growls again, lifting his head a little. "God, you have amazing breasts," he says.

She laughs, sliding a hand through his hair, nails scraping against his scalp. "Thank you."

He slides his hands underneath her back, reaching for the clasp of her bra. His fingers slide over it, trying to figure it out. She shifts and sits up a little, reaching a hand behind her back to help him unhook it but he's already got it done. He glances up at her and she's grinning, looking impressed.

He smiles almost shyly, but he’s feeling more and more confident. “It’s not _that_ hard,” he says, sitting up so he can pull the bra away from her body. His throat goes dry and his smile fades as he stares down at her, completely awestruck.

"Wow," he breathes, hands sliding up her torso almost reverently. "Really awesome breasts," he says, nodding solemnly. She giggles, and that really distracts him because the way her chest rises and falls is hypnotic.

He reaches out to touch them, the skin feels soft and warm under his fingers. He rubs the pad of his thumb over her nipple, loving how it hardens under his touch almost as much as he loves the noises she's making.

He growls, leaning down and pushing her back onto the bed, lowering his head to lick and kiss along the newly exposed skin. He closes his lips around her nipple, sucking hard, flicking his tongue, groaning against her skin.

He's torn because he's so hard by now and he wants her so bad, but this is amazing - using his hands and mouth to work her into a frenzy, something he didn't think he could do. Every scrape of his teeth and pinch from his fingers makes her twitch and growl. It makes him feel so _powerful_. It's exhilarating, especially considering how powerless he's felt since-

He shakes himself, focusing on what he's doing now, because that's all that matters. He pinches her nipple again, harder than before and her moans are much louder this time. She reaches down to tug away the elastic holding his hair back. It snags his hair and he hisses - but he almost enjoys the pain. She notices, her fingers slide all the way down his scalp, and then she grabs a handful of his hair and tugs sharply. He cries out, and the pain feels good. He growls against her skin, and she does it again. He nips at her skin this time, and she jumps and growls back at him.

"Barney, fuck," she says, half groan, half whine. "You're _killing_ me here." She uses the grip she has on his hair to ease his head up from her chest. "You're wearing way too much," she informs him. Her hands grab the hem of his t-shirt and he pulls it over his head.

"Look who's talking," he says, pushing his hair out of his face.

His hands slide down her stomach (okay, he pauses for a second to cup her breasts again because they're _awesome_ ) to the waistband of her jeans. He unbuttons them, tugging them down a little. She's wearing red panties and the sight of them makes his cock twitch.

He tugs her jeans down some more, running his fingers along the waistband of her panties. He hears her suck in a breath as his finger brushes against her skin.

He hooks his fingers underneath the elastic band, knuckles sliding against her skin. He moves his fingers across to her hips, slowly.

Robin twitches, growling. "Barney, if you don't fucking touch me soon-"

He looks up at her, still amazed by this power he suddenly has. He pauses for a second, and another, and just when he senses she's getting really frustrated he yanks down her panties. His fingers slide back up her thighs quickly, slipping between her legs. He groans, fuck she's so wet, and it sends another shock of arousal through him to know he did this to her.

It's so awesome, and she's so warm and wet and fuck, he needs to have her. He needs to have her right this second.

He wrenches his hand away, and though she thrashes a little, one look at his face stops her from complaining. She wriggles the rest of the way out of her jeans as he tugs off his boxers.

"Do you-" she starts, glancing up at him and pausing mid sentence. He's suddenly very aware this is the first time a girl has seen him naked, and it makes him a little nervous. He swallows and tries to stay calm because he _can't_ get The Yips now.

She blinks, still staring at him, and there's an agonising few seconds (that feel much, much longer to Barney) before her expression shifts from stunned to... well, still stunned, but stunned and aroused now.

He'll totally take that.

"Wow," she says, eyes trailing over him. He smirks. Robin shakes herself and looks up at his face again. "Um, do you have condoms?" she asks, a little awkwardly.

Barney nods, grabbing his jeans from the floor and pulling out the pack he'd picked up at the drugstore earlier.

She grabs a condom from him as soon as he's knelt on the bed, and before he can process what she's about to do her hand is wrapped around his cock and he has to squeeze his eyes shut just to stop himself from coming on the spot.

"Fuck," he says, but it sounds more like a strangled yelp. He thinks about the least sexy thing he can think of as she rolls the condom down his cock - fuck, her hands are all soft and small.

He's so focused on trying to keep his breathing steady that her hands grabbing his shoulders takes him completely by surprise. She pulls him down on top of her, hooking her legs over his hips.

He makes a surprised noise, but it's muffled by her lips pressing against his. She's got him nestled between her legs, and he shifts his hips a little and his cock is brushing against her. He groans, kissing her back fiercely.

He's lightheaded now, and everything’s happening so fast it feels almost surreal. Her fingers wrap around the base of his cock again and she's sliding it against herself, hissing as she moves him into position.

And then she's gripping his hips and pulling him into her and Barney squeezes his eyes shut and makes a loud, inarticulate noise. Oh, God, it's so good, she's so warm and wet and tight around him and he's doing his best not to come right away but it's hard because this is the most incredible sensation he's ever experienced.

"Oh fuck," Robin pants, and for a second he thinks he's somehow done something wrong. He opens his eyes to look down at her. "God, Barney - need," she gasps, sliding her hand between her legs. He can feel her hand moving, knuckles bumping against his skin.

She starts to clench around him, and he gasps. Oh, God, that's so good. "Fuck, Barney," she pants, rocking her hips upwards once and he reaches down to grip her hips tightly; he needs a minute or he's going to come _right fucking now_

But then she shudders, letting out a long moan and his eyes widen when he realises what's happening.

She clenches around him again, even tighter than before, and his vision whitens. He squeezes his eyes shut but he knows he won't be able to hold on, not with her shuddering and jerking underneath him.

He rocks his hips once, twice; and comes with a loud grunt, his fingers still gripping her hips tightly.

****

 _2005_

The next night, Barney stops being worried about what Robin might tell Ted, and is awesome instead. He kicks _ass_ at Laser Tag.

And anyway, Ted manages to screw it up before Robin can tell him anything. Barney should be relieved, but there's something niggling at him.

He toys with going to see her, just to say hi and see how she's doing. She is a huge part of the reason he's this awesome now.

Ted's insisting that he's not gonna call her as they walk in to Maclarens. Barney gives it two days till he does call her.

He should probably talk to her before then.

He stops at the bar to order the drinks, and when he turns around, Robin’s walking towards him. She looks at him for a second too long to be a casual glance, brow furrowed slightly as if she's trying to work out if it is him.

So she hadn't recognised him. He doesn't know whether to confirm it or not, but she walks past him before he can say anything, anyway.

"I'm in love with her," Ted announces, just as he reaches the booth.

Barney feels like banging his head against the table. Instead, he whacks the back of Ted’s head.

It helps.

Ted doesn't call her, he decides to play it cool and be casual. So, you know, he throws three parties just for her.

Sometimes he thinks Ted is a lost cause.

They're at the bar after the third party. Robin and Ted have talked and apparently they're just going to be friends. He's not so sure how well that'll work out, because it's completely obvious Ted is crazy about her. He knows Lily will do her best to keep Robin around, she's been saying the group needs another girl for a while now.

Barney has to talk to her at some point.

His opportunity comes right after Marshall leaves to write his paper. He's waiting at the bar for the pitcher of beer, sipping a scotch he's ordered for himself.

She slides up beside him. "Scotch, huh?" She's smiling knowingly and he returns it.

“Yeah. I developed a taste for it."

Her smile widens. "So you do recognise me."

He gives her a look. "Of course." He smiles warmly at her.

"I wasn't sure at first," she admits. "You're so..."

"Awesome," Barney supplies, cockily. "I know, right? You too."

She laughs. "Thanks. I do like the suit. And the hair, definitely working for you." Her eyes linger on his hair for a couple of seconds, and Barney smirks. "Why didn't you say something?" she asks.

Barney shrugs, fidgeting with his glass. "Ted, mostly. He liked you, I didn't want to kill his buzz."

"Ah." She looks at him again, shaking her head and smirking slightly. "Barney Stinson. Look at you..."

Barney grins back proudly. "I know, right?" he asks, eyes sparkling. "It turns out I had hidden depths of awesomeness that I just hadn't tapped into."

"Oh, really?" she asks, smirk growing wider.

He nods. "Can't argue with this," he says, pointing at himself. "But here's the thing," he says, leaning closer to her, his tone serious. "Ted and the others, they don't know that I haven't always been this awesome. And, the thing is, I'm not sure they could take finding out."

Robin raises an eyebrow slightly, but she nods. "Gotcha. Won't say a word."

Barney grins. "Awesome."

Carl places the pitcher of beer on the bar in front of him, and Barney hands him the money.

Robin glances at him as they start walking back over to the table. "You know, I thought you hadn't said anything because you were worried I wouldn't remember you."

Barney gives her a withering look. "Please."

***

 _1998_

He pants, opening his eyes and looking down at Robin. He's a little embarrassed it's over already, and worried she'll be - he doesn't know, mad or disgusted or something.

But she's not. In fact, she looks blissed out, with her eyes still closed and a smile playing at the edge of her lips.

He should move, but he leans down to kiss her quickly before he does. He pulls out of her, disposes of the condom in the trash, and then isn't sure what to do.

She pats the bed beside her. "Come. Lie down. Recover."

He grins and does, settling down beside her with a sigh. Their arms are touching, and her leg rubs against his when she stretches.

"You okay?" she asks.

He looks sideways at her. "Yeah," he says, quickly. "Definitely okay. It's just..." he trails off, not sure what he's trying to say.

"It is kinda anticlimactic," she agrees. He raises an eyebrow. "Okay, no, not the actual sex, that was... That was good. I mean, for a first time."

Barney stares at the ceiling, cursing himself for not being able to hold on a little longer. He was bad at it. He should have known he would be.

Robin is still talking. "... But when you've built it up in your head, and then you do it, it... it seems kinda weird that that was so important."

He nods slightly, wondering how he can get out of here without embarrassing himself even more.

"Barney? What's wrong?"

He doesn't know how to respond. She looks at him, brow furrowed, until it seems to click with her. "Oh! Oh, hey, no, I didn't mean it like that. Barney, that was great. No one's first time is perfect. But you're gonna be great at this, Barney, you totally are. The lead up, that was... intense."

It didn't seem like she was saying all of it to spare his feelings. He smiles a little. "That was really hot," he admits.

She grins. "Uh huh," she agrees, nodding. "Hottest foreplay I've ever had. Actually, pretty much the only foreplay I've had," she adds. "That's the problem with guys my age. Should go for older guys more often."

Something about the way she says that makes him look at her a little more closely. He didn't think she was _that_ much younger than him. "Uh, how much older?"

"Depends on how old you are, I guess," she replies, a little cagily.

A horrible thought strikes him. "Oh, God, tell me you're not-" he starts, but she cuts him off before he can finish.

"Oh, no, I'm eighteen," she says, hurriedly. "I'm eighteen. I'm eighteen," she repeats, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

And then does a double take. "Really?" he asks. She not only looks a couple of years older but she acts a lot more mature, too. She nods. "I'm twenty three," he tells her.

She quirks an eyebrow. "Huh."

"Yeah," he says slowly, the age difference starting to freak him out a little. "You're still pretty young."

She shakes her head. "Nuh uh. Hey, I seduced you in the bar, and I deflowered you. So if anyone took advantage, it was totally me."

Barney laughs a little. "Okay," he says. "Uh, and thanks," he adds, blushing a little. "You know, for seducing me. I can safely say that was a lot better than it would have been with Rhonda."

Robin smiles smugly. "Damn right it was. And it's only gonna get better."

Barney blinks. "Uh, what?"

She turns her head to look at him. "Oh, you didn't think we were _finished_ , did you?"

"Uh, I didn't-"

She rolls on her side, pressing against his arm, and runs a finger along his chest. "Oh, I take my responsibilities as a Man Maker very seriously," she informs him, her voice low and husky and God, he's almost getting hard again just listening to her _talk_.

And then she smirks, the most amazingly filthy smirk he's ever seen and rolls on top of him and, yeah, he's definitely getting hard again.

She leans down, her face inches from his and he can feel her breasts brushing against his chest. "You're not leaving this room until I'm sure you're a man, Barney."


End file.
